William Devlin (5 December 1911 – 25 January 1987) was a Scottish

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lit ...

who appeared widely in

films A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...

and

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

in a screen career that lasted from 1937 until 1967. The son of an architect, he was born in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), a ...

in 1911. An older brother was

Lord Devlin Patrick Arthur Devlin, Baron Devlin, PC, FBA (25 November 1905 – 9 August 1992) was a British judge and legal philosopher. The second-youngest English High Court judge in the 20th century, he served as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary from ...

Education

Devlin was educated at

Stonyhurst College Stonyhurst College is a co-educational Roman Catholic independent school, adhering to the Jesuit tradition, on the Stonyhurst Estate, Lancashire, England. It occupies a Grade I listed building. The school has been fully co-educational sinc ...

, where he was Head of the School, and at

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, ...

, where he matriculated in 1930.

Career

His first stage appearance was with

Nancy Price Nancy Price, CBE (3 February 1880 – 31 March 1970), was an English actress on stage and screen, author and theatre director. Her acting career began in a repertory theatre company before progressing to the London stage, silent films, talkies a ...

in the play ''Nurse Cavell'' by C. S. Forester and

C. E. Bechhofer Roberts Carl Eric Bechhofer Roberts (21 November 1894 – 14 December 1949) was a British author, barrister, and journalist. Biography Roberts was born and raised in London but relocated to Germany to study classics. He worked as a professional write ...

. In this play he had the role of the spy who betrayed

Edith Cavell Edith Louisa Cavell ( ; 4 December 1865 – 12 October 1915) was a British nurse. She is celebrated for saving the lives of soldiers from both sides without discrimination and for helping some 200 Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Be ...

. A noted Shakespearean actor, Devlin first played ''

King Lear ''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane a ...

'' aged 22. He was one of the youngest actors to undertake a major portrayal of what was considered the most difficult of Shakespearean roles; critic

James Agate James Evershed Agate (9 September 1877 – 6 June 1947) was an English diarist and theatre critic between the two world wars. He took up journalism in his late twenties and was on the staff of ''The Manchester Guardian'' in 1907–1914. He later ...

wrote of Devlin's performance at the

Westminster Theatre The Westminster Theatre was a theatre in London, on Palace Street in Westminster. History The structure on the site was originally built as the Charlotte Chapel in 1766, by William Dodd with money from his wife Mary Perkins. Through Peter ...

, "His understanding of the text and his sense of beauty are everywhere apparent". Devlin won further acclaim with his performance as

Peer Gynt ''Peer Gynt'' (, ) is a five- act play in verse by the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen published in 1876. Written in Norwegian, it is one of the most widely performed Norwegian plays. Ibsen believed '' Per Gynt'', the Norwegian fairy tale on ...

and in historical roles. In 1936, he played French politician

Georges Clemenceau Georges Benjamin Clemenceau (, also , ; 28 September 1841 – 24 November 1929) was a French statesman who served as Prime Minister of France from 1906 to 1909 and again from 1917 until 1920. A key figure of the Independent Radicals, he was a ...

in ''The Tiger,'' the first play to be televised by the BBC. He made his first film appearance in 1937 in ''

The Mill on the Floss ''The Mill on the Floss'' is a novel by George Eliot, first published in three volumes in 1860 by William Blackwood. The first American edition was published by Harper & Brothers, Publishers, New York. Plot summary Spanning a period of 10 to ...

'', and soon built up steady work as a

character actor A character actor is a supporting actor who plays unusual, interesting, or eccentric characters.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrieved 7 August 2014, "..a breed of actor who has the ability to b ...

, particularly after appearing in ''

Jamaica Inn The Jamaica Inn is a traditional inn on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall in the UK, which was built as a coaching inn in 1750, and has a historical association with smuggling. Located just off the A30, near the middle of the moor close to the hamlet ...

''. Devlin served in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

throughout the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, spending four and a half years with the Eighth Army in Africa and Italy. Devlin retired from acting in 1967, but reprised his ''

'' role in Episode 6 ("Protest and Communication") of

Kenneth Clark Kenneth Mackenzie Clark, Baron Clark (13 July 1903 – 21 May 1983) was a British art historian, museum director, and broadcaster. After running two important art galleries in the 1930s and 1940s, he came to wider public notice on television ...

's 1969

BBC-TV BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 1 ...

series ''

Civilisation A civilization (or civilisation) is any complex society characterized by the development of a state, social stratification, urbanization, and symbolic systems of communication beyond natural spoken language (namely, a writing system). Civ ...

''.

Personal life

He was married twice: first to Mary Casson, daughter of Lewis Casson and

Sybil Thorndike Dame Agnes Sybil Thorndike, Lady Casson (24 October 18829 June 1976) was an English actress whose stage career lasted from 1904 to 1969. Trained in her youth as a concert pianist, Thorndike turned to the stage when a medical problem with her ...

, and secondly to Meriel Moore. Devlin died in 1987 in

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lor ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

Filmography

*''

'' (1936) as Bob Jakin *''

Concerning Mr. Martin ''Concerning Mr. Martin'' is a 1937 British thriller film directed by Roy Kellino and starring Wilson Barrett, William Devlin and Marjorie Peacock. When an innocent girl is cheated by a seedy nightclub owner, a classy thief comes to her rescue ...

'' (1937) as Martell *'' The Mutiny of the Elsinore'' (1937) as O'Sullivan *''

I Met a Murderer ''I Met a Murderer'' is a 1939 British thriller film directed by Roy Kellino and starring James Mason, Pamela Mason, Sylvia Coleridge and William Devlin. A man murders his oppressive wife and flees from the police. He meets a young woman who ...

'' (1939) as Jay *''

'' (1939) as Burdkin, Sir Humphrey's Tenant *''

Treasure Island ''Treasure Island'' (originally titled ''The Sea Cook: A Story for Boys''Hammond, J. R. 1984. "Treasure Island." In ''A Robert Louis Stevenson Companion'', Palgrave Macmillan Literary Companions. London: Palgrave Macmillan. .) is an adventure no ...

'' (1950) as Morgan *'' Blood of the Vampire'' (1958) as Kurt Urach *'' Solomon and Sheba'' (1959) as Nathan *''

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

'' (1960) as Solicitor-General *'' The Jokers'' (1967) as Brigadier *'' The Shuttered Room'' (1967) as Zebulon Whately (final film role)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Devlin, Wiliam 1911 births 1987 deaths Scottish male stage actors Scottish male film actors Scottish male television actors 20th-century Scottish male actors Male actors from Aberdeen Alumni of Merton College, Oxford British Army personnel of World War II